Tuesday, May 31, 2011

A serious injury to the big toe on my left foot is forcing me off the trail at Wrightwood, California, near the 350 mile mark. I have a ticket on Amtrak to take me back to Oregon.

I'm sure I'll be loosing my big toe nail, but that's OK ... I've lost it before and I know it will grow back. Walking in Sandals seems to be OK, it's just painful when I try to wear my shoes and hike with my back-pack on.

I have a lot more photos to up-load, and I'll do that after I get back to my own comuter.

I got an early start at about 6:00 a.m. The other hikers in the room I was staying left even earlier, and I doubt I will ever see them again. Speed Bump, Top Shelf and Wired. They were nice to let me stay in their room last night.

I left most of the items that were in my pack in a large garbage bag at the Front Desk of the resort and just took water and few snacks for the "slack-pack" 10 mile hike on the section of the trail from Barrel Springs to Warner Springs Ranch Resort.

I started at about noon, but it didn't take too long for a driver to stop and offer me a ride. They weren't going all the way that I needed to go, so at about the 1/2 point, I jumped out and crossed the street to start looking for my next ride. Before I could even get out of the first car, a second car had already pulled over to offer me a ride the rest of the way. I wasn't even exactly sure that I was headed in the right direction! I was frantically looking at the map to make sure it was the right way!

It was a very warm afternoon for hiking, and I only saw two other hikers for the entire 10 miles. Most people like to do this part of the trail early in the morning to avoid the heat.

This is Eagle Rock, and the rock formation looks like a large Eagle getting ready to take flight.

When I got back to the Ranch, I fully intended to get the rest of my things and continue on down the trail. However, from the gate, I could hear a lot of people at the Cantina, laughing and having a good time. It was close to dinner time, so I thought "OK, just go back in and enjoy a nice dinner before hiking."

Well, it was just too tempting not to stay another night! One of hikers offered to let me sleep on the floor of their room, so I decided to soak in the hot pool one more time and stay the night.

I took a Zero day today. After a wonderful breakfast by some trail angels (China Doll, Riffleman, Princes and Bat Boy) that were camped in their RV's near Barrel Springs, I hitched a ride to Warner Springs Ranch Resort. It was an easy hitch, and it was great to get to the Ranch early in the morning rather than in the afternoon like all the other hikers I was hiking with.

First thing, I went and did my laundry ... no line and no waiting, except I had to walk across the street to the little store to get laundry soap and change for the washing machine.

Next, I was able to get on a computer and up-load some photos. Again, no line and no waiting.

By the time most of the other hikers showed up, I was soaking in the hot pool! What a great place to take a zero day!

I made it to Barrel Springs today. It was a hot, hot, hot day! In the middle of the day, I stopped and rested for a while, mostly to get out of the mid-day heat.

As night approached, I started to hike with a hiker by the trail name of 8 Miles. I turned on my headlamp to light up the trail.

As we approached the Springs, you could see two RV's that had set up camp near the road. A lot of hikers were there, and they were all talking and laughing. It was like a beacon in the night, inviting anyone and everyone to come join them.

Right at the springs, sereral hikers had set up their tents, but I decided to go straight to where the RV's were parked. They had lots of food: chili, hot dogs, cold beer and soda, fruit, and at least 30 folding chairs for hikers to sit and eat. They had a nice fire going, and the trail angels were wonderful people. I ended up setting up my tent right near the RV's, as a few other hikers had done the same thing.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The town of Julian is well known for it's apple pie. The Mom's Bakery and Deli was giving free 1/2 sanwich and a cup of soup to PCT hikers! Can't beat free food! It was wonderful pie, too!

A lot of hikers are headed to the Warner Springs Ranch Resort, and it's a very nice place! Great rooms, two swimming pools, wonderful food and beverages. It will be very relaxing to take a zero day there.

It was a good day today. Windy at times ... maybe as high as 40 m.p.h. The wind kept the tempatures cooler than they would have otherwise. There were about 20 hikers camped where I stopped for the night. I had to use my light for the last hour of hiking as it was getting dark. It was a very nice place to camp.

I had a great time hiking with other hikers today. There are so many new trail names to keep straight that I'm having a hard time with it. I'm having some issues with fuel, because if you try to mail fuel anyway other than ground, the post office wants a $25 haz-mat fee. Hopefully I can get this all figured out soon.

If you look at this picture closely, you can see some small white spotches at the top of the mountain. The white stuff is snow, high on the mountains. I left a note on the trail for other PCT hikers to notice the snow. At the pace that I'm going, I should be to that snow in about 2 weeks or so.

This is a Mt. Laguna Store. They also have rooms that you can rent here. It's very hiker friendly, and they have a wide variety of hiker food that you can buy. When I arrived, several hikers were hanging out in the front of the store, taking a nice break.

There have been a lot of snakes along the trail here in the desert. You can often hear them shake their rattles when you approach. Some of the hikers have ear plugs in ... I'm not sure how well they can hear the snakes!

I think I might have a touch of heat stroke yesterday, so I was really taking it easy today. I got out of the mid-day heat, and will continue to do the same thing as days progress while I'm still in this desert area.